Friday, February 13, 2009

this would be a perfect holiday gift for neighbors, friends, or teachers. it's fast it's cheap and essential for the cold weather!

what you'll need:one bag of rice (i used a 1 lb 12 oz bag) one fat quarter of muslin and one fat quarter of really cute fabric. (this particular fabric is moda)

first you are going to cut two 14 x 7 inches rectangles out of your muslin (this will be your rice bag)

sew together along three sides of your muslin pieces using a 1/4 seam allowance.

turn it inside out and fill it with the whole bag of rice.

fold in the raw edge in on itself and sew shut. your rice bag is done, so put it aside. now lets start working on your cover.

grab your super cute fabric and cut out three different rectangles. one at 14 x 7 the second one at 10 x 7 and the third one at 8 x 7

now the two smaller rectangles are the back so you are going to fold over 1/4 inch once (on one of the 7 inch side) and press with an iron...

then fold over again for the second time and press with an iron. do the same to the second small rectangle.

next sew along your folded fabric so that you end up with two nice finished edges

place right sides together

make sure you pin down all three pieces

and sew along all four sides together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

turn inside out and stuff the muslin rice bag inside your slip cover.

and now your toe's can be all nice and toasty in style and it's so darn cute that it'll even look good hanging out on your night table!

have a great valentines day, we're planning a low key celebration (which really means: i couldn't get a babysitter, but hey i don't care the kids are still young enough that they go to bed early and that's when the oreos and ice cream come out!)

64 comments:

Hi V,Great tutorial...a definite must make. I think the older someone gets, the colder their feet are!! Nothing scientific, just a thought. So since I am way older than you, I have blocks of ice for feet. This is going to be great.~Karen~

I will have to give that a try...not for a couple weeks I am sure. PS our plans are eerily simliar for Valentines Day...Gotta love a lack of babysitting with the silver lining of kids going to bed early. Whohoo!

I am sure that I am way behind reading this post, but I love this! My Grandmother swears by heating bags of rice to cure any ailment, so I am all over this project. One for her and one for me! Thanks so much for sharing this one.~Misti

Last year my mom had made me one for my stiff joints. With the looonnng cold winter this year, my feet have been freezing. I had not used it in bed but one night I could not stand it and thought I would try it out. Heaven! So try it ladies. It is wonderful. No wonder our ancestors had bedwarmers and hot bricks they put into beds.

If you spend lots of time at the computer these can be made narrower and used to support your wrists. Or you can make them for neck wraps and switch between hot and cold. Use flax seed for the cold and rice for the warm. My MIL has fibromyalgia and these come in really hand and are great when kids injure ankles or whatever. Much easier to put one of these cold on an ankle then a straight bag of ice.

V, first of all,thanking you for taking the time to do this tutorial and sharing it. It's been cold here in here in the windy city and I just commented to my hubby that we need some foot warmers. BTW, I love that fabric. Moda anything is always my first choice. I do have a question regarding the footwarmer. Do we ever have to worry about bugs or mold with these rice bag foot warmers? I know the rice isn't cooked, but was just curious. Thanks in advance.

I have to let you know that I have looked at your website for hours now brainstorming and being oh-so-jealous of your creativity! I made this kind of rice bag for my son as well. When he was a newborn he had extremely bad gas and it never helped that it was joined with colic. I made this bag to lay on his tummy for his gas and it was so great! My pediatrician recommended that I buy one, but I felt even better about it after mommy was able to make it for him! The only thing is, you definitely can't microwave it for 2 minutes!-Sara

I just wanted to thank you for your great tutorials. I stumbled across this rice bag tutorial somehow or another last week and I decided to make one for my sister for Christmas. I'm new to sewing, so anything I make I get super excited about. I was very impressed with your instructions (for I too am a visual learner) and my rice big turned out great! Thank you so much!!! I look forward to more tutorials in the future.Sincerely, Tara

Thanks for your great tutorial on ricebags. I made these for all my siblings and a couple friends for Christmas and they loved them!! I renamed it the "Cozy Comfort Pad" and made cute tags with instructions and verses of scripture on comfort. I dabbed the muslin bags with essential oil of lavender and peppermint for an aromatherapy affect. My outside cover is more like a pillowcase. I really was so excited with how they turned out!!! Happy New Year.CindyW.

Hi there! (From way down in Australia....) I make these with wheat for the 'stuffing'. And when it comes time to heat the wheat bag, I always put a 1/2 cup of water in the microwave with it. Something I read on the net - to do with preventing the wheat catching alight if it is getting too dry and overheated. Is rice so different? Wonder how the abilities of both mediums to hold heat stand up against one another? Time for some experimentation, I think!

Our 4H group made these yesterday for sewing project day. 8 children ranging in age from 8 to 16, they cut and pinned and filled and sewed. They learned about using the sewing machine, how to measure and cut fabric, how to make neat finished edges. It was great! They loved their bags!! Thank you! I sent an email with a link to your blog so they can enjoy all the things you do here!!

I just finished making a few for Christmas presents,and they turned out really nice. I love that they have pockets so you can toss the rice bag when it gets gross without losing your cute fabric. Thank you so much for posting directions!

Thank you for this beautiful tut. I have always put rice in a sock, and put a knot at the end. (Not very pretty) When my kiddos have a tummy ache we whip one of these together. Now they can have a tummy ache in style with one of these pretty little rice packs. Can't wait to make one. Love your blog!!

I've been using this tutorial for a couple of months now (first for myself, then for gifts!). I shared it on my blog (http://mdschoolmrs.blogspot.com/2011/03/rice-heating-pad-foot-warmer.html) and linked back to here! Thanks for the great tutorial!

I couldn't sleep last night and decided to try your rice bag. I had it together in no time with your great instructions. I am going to give it to my Dad who is 87 years young and says his feet get cold. Thanks for your great ideas!

I want to make some of these for warming hands, feet, tummies and backs :) Just curious--if I put a little lavender (dried from my garden), would it be safe to heat in the microwave with the rice? Has anyone tried that? Also, is a little lavender oil mixed with the lavender flowers ok/safe? Thanks!

I made a rice neck warmer several years ago, but this winter I used it as a bed foot warmer. By the time it cooled off, my feet were warm for the rest of the night. I will make this one for me and for gifts. Thanks.

I use essential oils like vanilla or grapefruit and it make the rice smell so much better. I have also made them using flax seed and whole dried corn off the cob. They use it to feed livestock so available at feed stores.

Just made one for my mom for Christmas - it was a perfect gift {since she's always saying how cold she is during the wintry nights} and was whipped up SO fast. Thank you so much for the tutorial!! Keep up the great work.

Thank you so much for this tutorial! My best friend started her first year of college this year and it is super cold in the winter where she is going. So I wanted to make her something for her birthday that would help keep her warm. I saw your tutorial and decided to make one of these foot warmers and it turned out great! I'm excited to give it to her because I know that she'll love it keeping her toes nice and warm :)

I've looked at several pins for rice bags and your tutorial won because its neat, simple and fun. I made one for my daughter to take back to college today. She said, "get ready, mom, you know my roommate is going to want one, too!"